Rabbi Roodyn

כִּי תִבְנֶה בַּיִת חָדָשׁ וְעָשִׂיתָ מַעֲקֶה לְגַגֶּךָ וְלֹא תָשִׂים דָּמִים בְּבֵיתֶךָ כִּי יִפֹּל הַנֹּפֵל מִמֶּנּוּ:

When you build a new house, you shall make a guard rail for your roof, so that you shall not cause blood [to be spilled] in your house, that the one who falls should fall from it [the roof]. )Devarim 22:8)

Whilst at first glance this seems like a straightforward health and safety directive, this passage raises a number of interesting issues. What is the significance of the law being stated in the context of a new house and why is a flat roof singled out over and above any other domestic hazard? And what message does this have for those of us who are not actually building a new home right now?

The Nesivos Shalom explains this passage in an allegorical fashion that is highly relevant for us during the month of Elul, leading up to the day of judgement of Rosh Hashana. A person who wishes to make a change for the New Year needs to evaluate their essence and in effect rebuild themselves from the ground up, Doing teshuva on isolated specific actions is important but only has a minimal effect unless it is accompanied by a sense of rebuilding oneself.

So when one rebuilds themselves as a ‘new house’ the way to ensure that they do not lose their achievements and growth is to build a maakeh, guardrail. The word מעקה is in fact the same gematria as יראה, fear (of Heaven). The roof is a reference to the head of a person, the seat of our thoughts, the location of our eyes, ears, mouth and nose. This the part of us that interacts with external stimuli and as such needs guarding. It is these stimuli that act upon us and cause us to behave and act in a fashion that can be unbecoming of us. It is for this reason that the Gemara (Shabbos 11a) singles out head ailments as being the most severe.

This therefore is essence of the teshuva of Elul, planning and building a beautiful new house for our souls, placing boundaries on our interaction with undesirable stimuli and working on being real with their effects on our essential, spiritual selves.

It is this sense of יראה, fear of harming our relationship with Hashem during the days of judgement that start with the ‘head’ of the year ראש השנה, that will define how successful our avodas Hashem and Teshuva is during these days.

Wishing you a good Shabbos